Policy: Academic Honesty and Integrity

Document Number: 1.011
Title: Course Classification
Effective Date: 08/1/2025
Revised Date: N/A

Policy 

As a student at River Parishes Community College, you should know that this school is committed to academic excellence. When students engage in academic dishonesty, they threaten the integrity of the entire institution, and they devalue the legitimate intellectual accomplishments of all students. The responsibility rests with the student to know the acceptable methods and techniques for proper documentation of sources and avoid cheating and plagiarism in all work submitted for credit, whether prepared in or out of class.  

Definitions of cheating and plagiarism: 

Cheating is a term broadly used to describe acts of obtaining information through fraud or deceit, either by use of unauthorized notes, books, or other sources prior to or during examinations, on assignments, or by using information under false pretenses. It includes premeditated cheating, which refers to the pre-planned and deliberate use of materials prepared and/or identified in advance.  

Cheating includes but is not limited to, such practices as: 

• unauthorized gaining of help from another person 
• using unauthorized notes or other resources when taking a graded assessment 
• distributing/previewing copies of the test/quiz 
• having someone else pose as you to complete the work 
• relying on unauthorized devices or tools if such aid has been forbidden 
• preparing an assignment in consultation with another person when the instructor expects the work to be done independently 
• turning in an assignment already written/submitted for another course without the instructor’s permission. 
• using AI in a manner that violates the RPCC AI Guidance 

In other words, cheating occurs when a student uses any unauthorized aids or materials or falsely represents themselves or their work in all class formats (ex., face-to-face, asynchronous and synchronous online, or hybrid). Furthermore, any student who provides unauthorized assistance in academic work is also guilty of cheating. 

Plagiarism occurs any time you attempt to use, pass off, or present another’s ideas, data, images, or writings from an existing source as your own idea or product. Plagiarism is a copyright violation. Self-plagiarism is any attempt to take any of your own previously used text, papers, or research results and make it appear brand new (e.g. assignment recycling).  

This includes but is not limited to, such practices as:

• presenting as a new and original idea or product anything which in fact, is derived from an existing work 
• making use of any work or production already created by someone else without giving credit to the source 
• purchasing or obtaining an essay or any written material from any source that is presented as one’s own work 
• making use of or copying work completed by another student currently or previously taking the class 
• turning in work directly copied from a website 
• copying or paraphrasing ideas from a work of literary criticism or study aid when outside sources are not permitted 
• appropriating the writing style of an author 
• students reusing assignments from a previously taken course in the same course being repeated (e.g. resubmitting an essay assignment with exact language from a previously taken and failed/withdrawn ENGL course for the same assignment in the retake course) 

Penalties 

If a faculty member suspects academic dishonesty has occurred, and finds that the student did violate Academic Honesty & Integrity standards, the faculty member, at their discretion, may impose one (1) or a combination of the following penalties:  

• Warning without further penalty  
• Retaking a test/examination; redoing a written assignment or laboratory assignment  
• Lowering a grade on a project, written assignment, laboratory assignment, or test/examination  
• Issuing a failing grade (“F”) on a project, written assignment, laboratory assignment, or test/examination  
• Lowering a final course grade

The faculty member shall notify the student as soon as possible regarding the alleged violation and penalty. If the student wishes to dispute either the allegation or the penalty, they shall contact the faculty member in-writing to discuss the matter within three (3) days of the notification from the faculty member. Additionally, all violations will be reported via the Academic Integrity Sanction Form by the faculty member to the Office of Academic Affairs.  

Students with multiple violations, whether in the same course or across courses, or students who have committed a more serious academic integrity offense will be reported to the Dean of their Program and the Office of Academic Affairs. Additional sanctions may be applied at the college level, which could result in a range of actions, including (but not exclusive to), issuing a failing grade (“F”) for the course, probationary status, and/or potential suspension or expulsion from River Parishes Community College. Furthermore, when a program is governed by outside boards, accreditation agencies, and partnerships, additional sanctions may be applied by those entities. Students sanctioned for an academic integrity violation with an F in the course before the add/drop or withdrawal period will not be permitted to drop or withdraw from the course; the grade of F will stand.  

If, after the imposed penalty, the student wishes to further dispute either the violation or the sanction, the student may request a review by the Appeals Committee by completing the Academic Honesty and Integrity Appeal Form and following the process detailed below. 

Appeal Process 

Students who receive an academic sanction for violating Academic Honesty and Integrity may appeal the sanction using the Appeal to Academic Integrity Sanction procedures as set forth here.  

Within five (5) business days of receiving notification of the sanction, a student may formally appeal the Academic Integrity Sanction. 

* A business day is defined as Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., excluding Federal Holidays and official RPCC closure days.  Note: When RPCC is open, but classes are not in session, it will be considered a business day. 

Formal Appeals to Academic Sanctions may proceed through several steps at RPCC if the student desires. If an appeal is denied, the student may take the appeal to the next-level review within the chain of Academic Affairs at RPCC, with the appropriate path of the appeal depending upon the level of sanction(s) being appealed. At each stage, the RPCC officer at that level will determine whether to grant or deny the appeal, and it is the student’s choice to continue the process to the next appropriate level.   

The levels of review for an appeal of an Academic Sanction(s) are: 

• Level 1: Academic Dean/Director 
  • Appeals to the Dean/Director must be submitted within five (5) business days.  
  • The Dean will review the appeal form, and any supporting documentation provided and may contact the faculty member, if additional information is needed, to decide on the appeal.  
  • The Dean/Director must respond, in writing, to the student‘s appeal within ten (10) business days of receipt.  
  • If the Dean/Director grants the appeal, the Dean/Director will work with the faculty member to rescind/amend the sanction put on the student. 
  • If the Dean denies the appeal, their written response to the student must explain why the appeal is being denied. Email will suffice as written correspondence. 
• Level 2: Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs 
  • If the Dean/Director denies the appeal, the student may appeal to the Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs. Appeals to the Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs must be submitted within five (5) business days of notification from the Dean/Director.  
  • The Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs will review the appeal form, any supporting documentation provided, the instructor and/or Dean/Director’s response(s) to the appeal and make a decision on the appeal.  
  • The Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs must respond, in writing, to the student’s appeal within ten (10) business days of receipt, notifying the student, instructor, and Dean of the correspondence.   
  • If the Vice Chancellor grants the appeal, the Vice Chancellor and Dean/Director will work with the faculty member to rescind/amend the sanction put on the student. 
  • If the Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs denies the appeal, his/her written response to the student must explain why the appeal is being denied. Email will suffice as written correspondence. The Vice Chancellor’s decision will be the final decision on the appeal.